Providing valid responses to requests for quotations

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for providing valid responses to requests for quotations are provided. In one embodiment of the invention, a system according to the invention preferably includes a server. The server includes a server storage device and a server processor connected to the server storage device. The server storage device preferably stores a server program for controlling the server processor. The server processor is preferably operative to receive a request from a requesting participant for a market-validated offer to sell an item; receive an offer price from a responding participant in response to the request; and provide a bid to an electronic marketplace, the bid including a price that is lower than the received offer price.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/436,219, filed May 18, 2006, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,774,250,which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/739,120, filed Nov. 23, 2005.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to electronic trading systems. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to electronic tradingsystems that are based on a Request for Quote (RFQ) trading method.

An RFQ method typically is initiated by a first participant transmittinga request to multiple participants for a quote (either a request for abid or a request for an offer) in a particular market. For example, afirst participant may request that a select group of participantsprovide the first participant a bid for 50 million dollars in notionalvalue (hereinafter referred to by “m”, i.e., 50 million=50 m) of 5-yearUnited States Treasure Notes. Each of the group of respondingparticipants may respond with a quote for which the respectiveparticipant would purchase the 50 m of 5-Year Notes. Then, the firstparticipant may select to trade with the best quote from the returnedquotes.

The advent of RFQ-based electronic trading substantially increasedtrading volume in certain sectors of the fixed-income securities market.In addition, RFQ-based electronic trading, in part due to the increasedvolume of the market which generated greater transparency, alsosubstantially reduced transaction costs—e.g., margins—for theparticipants that were requesting quotes.

The reduced margins have been substantially caused by reduced dealerfees in RFQ-based electronic trading. Moreover, RFQ-based electronictrading also has minimized the importance of the bond dealer/bond clientrelationship because the most important determining factor in theselection of one of the responding participants in RFQ-based electronictrading in the retail Treasury market has become price (in the U.S.Treasury Market, the clients typically request quotes and the dealerstypically respond to the requests). This minimization of the importanceof the bond dealer/bond client relationship has increased pricecompetition among dealers, and thereby has negatively impacted thedealers' profitability. The substantial negative impact on the dealers'profitability has led to a general degradation of the retail bondindustry and may, in fact, eliminate all but a few of the participantsfrom the industry. This decreases competition and subsequently harms thepublic interest in having a highly competitive retail bond market.

It is therefore desirable for the preservation of the retail bondindustry to provide systems and methods that restore the bonddealer/bond client relationship in RFQ-based electronic trading whilepreserving the pricing advantages that have been achieved in the recentpast.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide systems and methods thatrestore the bond dealer/bond client relationship in RFQ-based electronictrading while preserving the pricing advantages that have been achievedin the recent past.

This and other objects are accomplished in accordance with theprinciples of the invention by providing systems and methods fordisplaying market information for, and allowing for electronic tradingin, items through a user interface. More specifically, some embodimentsof the invention provide a dialog box for use with an electronic tradingsystem that processes market-validated bids and/or offers. One or morerequests for such a bid (or offer) on an item may be received by thesystem from a requesting participant. In response to the request, a bid(or offer) may be received from a responding participant and an offer(or bid) comprising a higher (or lower) price may be made by theresponding participant, or other suitable party, to an electronicmarketplace. Such an electronic marketplace may be the Two-Year U.S.Treasury Note electronic marketplace of eSpeed, Inc. of New York, N.Y.or other suitable electronic marketplace. (In certain embodiments of theinvention, “hot keys” may be employed which specify specificmarketplaces, such as an “eSpeed” button, for validation.) for If theoffer (or bid) is accepted in the marketplace, the item is sold at theoffer price (or bought at the bid price) on behalf of the requestingparticipant. Moreover, the responding participant may be provided with acommission for making the successful offer to the market place. If, onthe other hand, the offer (or bid) is not accepted in the marketplace, atransaction for the item may be executed between the requestingparticipant and the responding participant at the bid (or offer) pricereceived from the responding participant. Accordingly, the requestingparticipant can deal with one preferred party instead of many, whilestill insuring that he or she is receiving a competitive bid.

Systems and methods for providing valid responses to requests forquotations are provided. In one embodiment of the invention, a systemaccording to the invention preferably includes a server. The serverincludes a server storage device and a server processor connected to theserver storage device. The server storage device preferably stores aserver program for controlling the server processor. The serverprocessor is preferably operative to receive a request from a requestingparticipant for a market-validated offer to sell an item; receive anoffer price from a responding participant in response to the request;and provide a bid to an electronic marketplace, the bid including aprice that is lower than the received offer price. If the bid isaccepted in the marketplace, the server processor is operative to buythe item at the lower price of the bid on behalf of the requestingparticipant. If the bid is not accepted in the marketplace, the serverprocessor is operative to execute a transaction for the item between therequesting participant and the responding participant at the offer pricereceived from the responding participant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a dialog box that may be displayed to usersin accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a flow chart representing a process thatmay be used to perform the functions of certain embodiments of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary system that may be used toimplement the processes and functions of certain embodiments of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Systems and method according to the present invention preferably providea validated response to an RFQ that allows participants to takeadvantage of the price competition among quote providers whilereintroducing elements of the bond dealer/bond client relationship backinto the bond retail business.

In some embodiments of the present invention, an order type is providedthat allows the participant to preferentially weigh the returned quotesof one or more responding participants. For example, when a participantrequests a validated bid according to the invention, for 50 m of 5-yearNotes (the request may be made from one or more participants), theresponding participants may respond with a bid at a price of 100.16+(this terminology denotes that the responding participants have shown anintent to buy 50 m 5-year Notes at a price of $1,005,156 per milliondollar denomination of the note). This bid, according to the invention,may preferably be in the form of a stop order—i.e., the respondingparticipant guarantees that he will buy the 50 m for at least 100.16+,and, depending on market conditions as will be explained, may buy the 50m at a higher price. After the requesting participant responds byhitting the bid—i.e., accepting to sell the 50 m to the bidder—theresponding participant (or the electronic trading system on behalf ofthe requesting participant) then posts an offer, which may be for thesame volume or different volume as the accepted bid, preferably in asuitably liquid, preferably electronic marketplace. The posted offer mayinclude a price that is some pre-determined user-defined, or systempre-configured, increment higher than the accepted bid. Alternatively,the responding participant (or the electronic trading system) may postthe offer before, or substantially simultaneously to, his presenting thebid to the requesting party.

If the posted offer (which, to reiterate, is preferably higher than theaccepted bid) is lifted—i.e., accepted—by a third party in themarketplace, then the responding party, essentially acting as an agentfor the requesting party, sells the 50 m of Treasury Notes of therequesting party at the higher price (than the responding participantwas willing to pay) of the posted offer on behalf of the requestingparty. The responding party may receive a commission on such atransaction because the responding party had committed to bid for theitem and, as a result of his bid, a higher price was obtained from themarket. However, because, at the end of the trade, the respondingparty's bid was replaced by a higher bid obtained from the marketplace,the responding party is preferably not a principle in the trade.

Alternatively, the responding party may in fact become a principle inthe trade, and, thereby actually sell the 50 m in the marketplacepreferably only to buy the 50 m back from the requesting party.

If the posted offer is not lifted, then the responding party buys the 50m of Treasury Notes from the requesting party at the price of theaccepted bid. In this case, the responding party is a principle in thetrade. The system may require that the posted offer be available to betraded in an appropriate electronic trading system for a predeterminedperiod of time. This period of time may be preconfigured oruser-definable.

One of the advantages of systems and methods according to the presentinvention is that, in some embodiments, the requesting party can dealwith one preferred dealer instead of many, while still insuring that heor she is receiving a competitive bid. As such, the dealer/clientrelationship can be reestablished because the price associated with theresponse is market tested. In one embodiment of this aspect of theinvention, the system may restrict the requesting party to apredetermined number of dealers in a month. Thus, by selecting a dealer,the requesting party has shown a certain discernible preference for thedealer that has been selected.

In another aspect of the invention, the data derived from these tradesmay be controlled and disseminated either as encrypted (or encoded)data, which can then be unencrypted (or unencoded) by an authorized enduser. This market data may be sold to interested parties or otherwisedistributed in a selective fashion.

The relative validity of the response may be modified to be either morevalid with respect to market conditions or less valid with respect tomarket conditions by adjusting certain parameters. For example (withrespect to the embodiment set forth above) by increasing the size of theincrement between the responding bid and the posted offer, the chance ofa third party lifting the posted offer is decreased. Therefore, a largerincrement decreases the relative validity of the responding bid becausethe posted offer (which is being used to test the market) is far enoughfrom the proposed bid such that the bid is not validated by exposure tothe market. Rather, in most cases, the posted offer will not be acceptedand the bid will result in a trade.

Conversely, when the increment between the responding bid and the postedoffer is relatively small, the validity of the responding bid isincreased. When the posted offer is relatively close to the respondingbid, third party market participants are more likely to accept theposted offer because the price is lower and therefore third party marketparticipants are more likely to bid. In other words, the price of theresponding bid is relatively more valid because, in this instance, itcan be said that the proposed bid is closer to the true market price.

As described above, another parameter that can be adjusted is the amountof time the posted offer is required to be maintained in an availablestate—i.e., other participants are allowed to take the posted offer—theelectronic marketplace. The longer the posted offer is required to beexposed in the marketplace, the more valid the responding bid will be.This principle follows the simple reasoning that it is more likely thatanother participant will exist that is willing to bid more than theresponding party at some point during the longer period of time. Thus,the requestor is more likely to receive an incrementally higher pricefor the 50 m of Treasury Notes.

Yet another modifiable parameter that may be adjusted is the commissionpaid by the requesting participant to the responding participant when athird party accepts the posted offer. Though this parameter may beadjusted, it does not directly affect the validity of the offer but,instead, directly addresses the relationship between the dealer and theclient.

By modifying parameters such as the responding bid/posted offerincrement, the exposure time and the commission for a third party markettransaction (or other suitable modifiable parameters), the dealer andthe client can effectively enter into a relationship similar to therelationship provided before the onset of electronic trading. Moreover,by taking advantage of the benefits of the available electronicmarketplaces, the client is protected from being restricted to a singledealer because the dealer is forced to expose a price that is betterthan the dealer's bid price to the competition of the marketplace inorder to validate the dealer's bid.

In alternative embodiments of the present invention, any of theparameters that affect the validity of a bid or offer may preferably becombined by some appropriately weighted algorithm to form a singlevalidity quotient. By presenting a single modifiable number to a clientand dealer, the dealer may provide preferential treatment to one dealerover another dealer by adjusting the validity quotient lower for thepreferred dealer. Although such a lower validity quotient may reduce thevalidity of the bid provided by the preferred dealer, the preferreddealer may provide the client with other benefits that compensate forthe preferential treatment. In any event, systems and methods accordingto the present invention preferably provide a platform for the clientand dealer to reestablish their relationship without denying any of theadvantages provided by the competition in electronic trading. In fact,systems and methods according to the present invention use theelectronic marketplace to reap the benefits of competitive pricing andhigh volume trading without subjecting the participants to thecompetitive pressures of a highly liquid trading environment wherepricing pressures are enormous.

FIG. 1 illustrates an order entry dialogue box (hereinafter “OEDB”) 100for submitting an RFQ according to some embodiments of the presentinvention. OEDB 100 may provide the requesting participant with variousoptions and entry fields. Using one or more of these options and entryfields, a participant may submit non-RFQ trade commands (i.e., standardtrading commands), such as, a bid command, an offer command, a buycommand, or a sell command for any suitable instrument. When OEDB 100 isactivated, the fields in OEDB 100 are preferably populated withinformation pertaining to the instrument selected. For example, thecurrent market price for the instrument may populate the price field.

Numeric keypad 102 may be located at the center of OEDB 100. Numerickeypad 102 may provide buttons for numbers zero through nine, and maycontain buttons for numbers ten, twenty-five, fifty, and one hundred orany other suitable or desirable values. The numeric keypad may alsocontain a plus button (“+”), a minus button (“−”), a decimal pointbutton (“.”), a backspace button (“BKS”), and a delete button (“DEL”).

OEDB 100 may provide a participant with buy option 104, sell option 106,cancel buys option 108, cancel sells option 110, bid option 112, offeroption 114, cancel bids option 116, cancel offers option 118, cancel allbids option 120, cancel all offers option 122, cancel all option 124,cancel all for all instruments option 126, price entry field 128, andsize entry field 130.

OEDB 100 may provide an RFQ preference field 144. RFQ preferences field144 may be made available when the requesting participant selects RFQoption 145 from OEDB 100. Likewise, RFQ preferences field 144 may beremoved from OEDB 100 when RFQ option 145 is selected again. Field 144may provide a participant with RFQ buy option 146, RFQ sell option 148,RFVQ Buy option 150, and RFVQ Sell 152. RFQ buy option 146 and RFQ selloption 148 provide the requesting participant with the ability to submitan RFQ from a buyer position and an RFQ from a seller position,respectively. Options 150 and 152 provides the requesting participantwith an opportunity to submit an RFQ that requests a valid quote eitherfrom a buyer position or from a seller position, respectively.

Minimum size field 154, time limit field 156, RFVQ Quotient field 158,and minimum number of prices field 160 are fields that may beincorporated in RFQ preference field 144. The requesting participant mayspecify a minimum size for an instrument he or she is willing to buy orsell in field 154. By populating field 156, the requesting participantmay specify a time limit as to how long his or her RFQ is open forreceiving a quote from a market participant. If the requestingparticipant desires to specify an RFVQ Quotient, as described above inmore detail the requesting participant can specify the value in field158 and select option 150. Alternatively, another set of fields may beprovided that more particularly enumerate the factors that contribute tothe RFVQ quotient. These factors may include, for example, the incrementbetween the responding quote and the contra quote that the respondingparticipant must place in the suitable electronic marketplace, theamount of time the contra quote must be posted for, and any othersuitable factors.

Field 160, when populated, provides the requesting participant with anopportunity to specify the minimum number of quotes to receive from amarket participant in response to his or her request.

OEDB 100 may also provide a trade preference field 132. Preference field132 may be used to indicate the participant's preferred trade type andmay allow the requesting participant to select any type of trade that aparticular exchange or trading system supports. Although FIG. 1 providesspecific examples of trade types (e.g., good-till-canceled (GTC), limit,all-or-none (AON), stop, and market-if-touched (MIT)), the presentinvention may be implemented with any type of suitable trade.

OEDB 100 may also provide an auto-execution feature for an RFQ. Theauto-execution feature, when selected, may be used to automaticallyrespond to a market participant's quote. For example, if a quotesatisfying the requesting participant's criteria for accepting the quoteis received, an accept confirmation may be automatically transmittedfrom the requesting participant and the trade may be executed. Othervarious features for managing quotes received in response to an RFQ maybe incorporated into OEDB 100.

Options and fields provided in OEDB 100 may be reconfigured to suit anyrequesting participant's needs and preferences. Configure keypad option136 may provide the requesting participant with the ability toreconfigure OEDB 100. Close-on-action box 134, when selected, may causeOEDB 100 to be automatically closed after specified actions areperformed. Close option 138 allows the requesting participant to closeOEDB 100 on demand. In addition, assignable issue buttons field 140 maybe provided to allow the requesting participant to have a specific setof instructions executed by the push of a single button. Issue buttonsin field 140 may be configured accordingly via assign buttons option142.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart that illustrates a method according to someembodiments of the present invention. Box 202 shows a participantrequesting a validated bid according to the present invention for 50 mof 5-year Notes.

After the requesting participant responds by hitting the bid, as shownin box 204, a responding participant then posts an offer (preferablyfrom some pre-determined time) in a suitable electronic marketplace, asshown in box 206. The offer may be for the same volume or differentvolume as the accepted bid. The posted offer may be some pre-determinedincrement higher than the accepted bid. It should be noted that therequesting participant may not be required to accept the respondingparticipant's bid (or offer, as the case may be). Rather, the requestingparticipant may reject the bid and wait for the market response to theposted offer.

Box 208 queries whether the posted offer is accepted (commonly referredto as the offer is “lifted”) in the marketplace. Box 210 shows that theresponding participant sells the 50 m of Treasury Notes of therequesting participant at the higher price of the posted offer on behalfof the requesting participant and receives a commission therefore.

Box 212 shows that the responding participant buys the 50 m of TreasuryNotes from the requesting participant at the price of the bid.

In one embodiment of the invention the visibility of the validationattempt with respect to a particular bid or offer may be particularlyindicated to the requesting participant. For example, if participant xrequests a validated bid for an item from participant y, then y mustmake an attempt to offer the item on a suitable marketplace. Accordingto the invention, y can then offer on a preselected marketplace. Theinvention further discloses that y's offer may be indicated to x,assuming x, or a representative of x is viewing the marketplace, byshowing y's offer in a different color, or with some other suitablevisual indicator, on x's computer display or in some other suitablefashion. This “for your eyes only” feature allows selective display ofthe validated quote to a preselected participant.

Referring to FIG. 3, exemplary system 300 for implementing the inventionis shown. As illustrated, system 300 may include one or moreworkstations 310. Workstations 310 may be local or remote, and areconnected by one or more communications links 302 to communicationsnetwork 303 that is linked via communications link 305 to server 320.Server 320 may be linked to back office clearing center 330 viacommunications link 307.

Server 320 may be any suitable server, processor, computer, dataprocessing device, or combination of the same. Server 320 may be used toimplement the governing logic that processes and executes RFQ ordersbids/offers and trades, and distributes trade and market information,including price and size information, to workstations 310.Communications network 303 preferably includes the Internet but mayconsist of any suitable computer network such as an intranet, awide-area network (WAN), a local-area network (LAN), a wireless network,a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a frame relay network, anasynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, a virtual private network(VPN), or any combination of the same. Communications links 302 and 305may be any communications links suitable for communicating data betweenworkstations 310 and server 320, such as network links, dial-up links,wireless links, hard-wired links, etc.

Workstations 310 may be personal computers, laptop computers, mainframecomputers, dumb terminals, data displays, Internet browsers, PersonalDigital Assistants (PDAs), two-way pagers, wireless terminals, portabletelephones, etc., or any combination of the same. Workstations 310 maybe used by participants to enter, modify or cancel RFQ and other ordersand other bid, ask, buy and sell orders for the items being traded andview market activity corresponding to these items.

A typical workstation 310 may include processor that is higher (orlower) than the received bid (or offer price 311, display 312, inputdevice 313, and memory 314, which may be interconnected. In a preferredembodiment, memory 314 includes a storage device for storing aworkstation program for controlling processor 311. The workstationprogram may include a trading application for running the interfaceshown in FIG. 1 and displayed on display 312. The trading applicationmay also run the process shown in FIG. 2. Input device 313 may be usedin conjunction with display 312 by users to enter RFQ orders and otherbids/offers on desired items, to provide bids/offers at different pricesas described above and execute and monitor trades based thereon.Processor 311 may use the workstation program to receive tradeinformation relating to the items being traded by multiple users ofsystem 300, or other users, and display such information on display 312or communicate such information to server 320.

Server 320 may include processor 321, display 322, input device 323, andmemory 324, which may be interconnected. In a preferred embodiment,memory 324 includes a storage device for storing a server program thatprovides the governing logic for controlling processor 321. Processor321 may use the server program to process orders and execute tradescommunicated from various workstations that are operated by multipleusers of system 300, or other users, and communicate trade information,as well as bid and ask information, to workstations 310 and back officeclearing center 330. More specifically, processor 321 may use the serverprogram to process RFQ and other orders placed by users, as well asposting other orders having higher offer prices or lower bid prices, andexecute trades based on the response to such orders. Processor 321 mayalso perform at least some of the functions of processor 311.

Back office clearing center 330 may be any suitable equipment, such as acomputer, a laptop computer, a mainframe computer, etc., or anycombination of the same, for causing trades to be settled and/orverifying that trades are settled. Communications link 307 may be anycommunications links suitable for communicating data between server 320and back office clearing center 330, such as network links, dial-uplinks, wireless links, hard-wired links, etc.

In view of the apparatus according to the invention described in FIG. 3,the following comments apply as well. It will be readily apparent to oneof ordinary skill in the art that the various processes described hereinmay be implemented by, e.g., appropriately programmed general purposecomputers and computing devices. Typically a processor (e.g., one ormore microprocessors, one or more microcontrollers, one or more digitalsignal processors) will receive instructions (e.g., from a memory orlike device), and execute those instructions, thereby performing one ormore processes defined by those instructions.

A “processor” means one or more microprocessors, central processingunits (CPUs), computing devices, microcontrollers, digital signalprocessors, or like devices or any combination thereof.

Thus a description of a process is likewise a description of anapparatus for performing the process. The apparatus can include, e.g., aprocessor and those input devices and output devices that areappropriate to perform the method.

Further, programs that implement such methods (as well as other types ofdata) may be stored and transmitted using a variety of media (e.g.,computer readable media) in a number of manners. In some embodiments,hard-wired circuitry or custom hardware may be used in place of, or incombination with, some or all of the software instructions that canimplement the processes of various embodiments. Thus, variouscombinations of hardware and software may be used instead of softwareonly.

The term “computer-readable medium” refers to any medium thatparticipates in providing data (e.g., instructions, data structures)which may be read by a computer, a processor or a like device. Such amedium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatilemedia, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile mediainclude, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistentmemory. Volatile media include dynamic random access memory (DRAM),which typically constitutes the main memory. Transmission media includecoaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires thatcomprise a system bus coupled to the processor. Transmission media mayinclude or convey acoustic waves, light waves and electromagneticemissions, such as those generated during radio frequency (RF) andinfrared (IR) data communications. Common forms of computer-readablemedia include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any otheroptical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium withpatterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any othermemory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, orany other medium from which a computer can read.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carryingdata (e.g. sequences of instructions) to a processor. For example, datamay be (i) delivered from RAM to a processor; (ii) carried over awireless transmission medium; (iii) formatted and/or transmittedaccording to numerous formats, standards or protocols, such as Ethernet(or IEEE 802.3), SAP, ATP, Bluetooth, and TCP/IP, TDMA, CDMA, and 3G;and/or (iv) encrypted to ensure privacy or prevent fraud in any of avariety of ways well known in the art.

Thus a description of a process is likewise a description of acomputer-readable medium storing a program for performing the process.The computer-readable medium can store (in any appropriate format) thoseprogram elements which are appropriate to perform the method.

Just as the description of various steps in a process does not indicatethat all the described steps are required, embodiments of an apparatusinclude a computer/computing device operable to perform some (but notnecessarily all) of the described process.

Likewise, just as the description of various steps in a process does notindicate that all the described steps are required, embodiments of acomputer-readable medium storing a program or data structure include acomputer-readable medium storing a program that, when executed, cancause a processor to perform some (but not necessarily all) of thedescribed process.

Where databases are described, it will be understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art that (i) alternative database structures to thosedescribed may be readily employed, and (ii) other memory structuresbesides databases may be readily employed. Any illustrations ordescriptions of any sample databases presented herein are illustrativearrangements for stored representations of information. Any number ofother arrangements may be employed besides those suggested by, e.g.,tables illustrated in drawings or elsewhere. Similarly, any illustratedentries of the databases represent exemplary information only; one ofordinary skill in the art will understand that the number and content ofthe entries can be different from those described herein. Further,despite any depiction of the databases as tables, other formats(including relational databases, object-based models and/or distributeddatabases) could be used to store and manipulate the data typesdescribed herein. Likewise, object methods or behaviors of a databasecan be used to implement various processes, such as the describedherein. In addition, the databases may, in a known manner, be storedlocally or remotely from a device which accesses data in such adatabase.

Various embodiments can be configured to work in a network environmentincluding a computer that is in communication (e.g., via acommunications network) with one or more devices. The computer maycommunicate with the devices directly or indirectly, via any wired orwireless medium (e.g. the Internet, LAN, WAN or Ethernet, Token Ring, atelephone line, a cable line, a radio channel, an optical communicationsline, commercial on-line service providers, bulletin board systems, asatellite communications link, a combination of any of the above). Eachof the devices may themselves comprise computers or other computingdevices, such as those based on the Intel®Pentium® or Centrino™processor, that are adapted to communicate with the computer. Any numberand type of devices may be in communication with the computer.

In an embodiment, a server computer or centralized authority may not benecessary or desirable. For example, the present invention may, in anembodiment, be practiced on one or more devices without beingimplemented on a central authority, such as if the system is practicedon a workstation associated with a dealer participant such as GoldmanSachs. (Nevertheless, in one embodiment, the prices for validation maybe made available to trade on a central system such as the Two-Year U.S.Treasury Market for eSpeed, or alternatively, only within GoldmanSachs). In such an embodiment, any functions described herein asperformed by the server computer or data described as stored on theserver computer may instead be performed by or stored on one or moresuch devices. Alternatively, the present invention may be practiced by asubstantially centralized authority which is configured as an externalsystem, such as the eSpeed trading system described above.

It will be understood that the foregoing is only illustrative of theprinciples of the present invention, and that the invention can bepracticed by other than the described embodiments, which are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by at least oneprocessor, from a workstation in use by a requesting participant arequest for quote for a bid on an item, wherein the at least oneprocessor and the workstation are communicatively coupled via acommunications network; receiving, by the at least one processor, from aworkstation in use by a responding participant an offer to guaranteethat the item will be purchased from the requesting participant at aprice that will be either greater than or equal to a specified firstprice, wherein the the offer to guarantee is in response to the requestfor quote, and wherein the server and the workstation in use by theresponding participant are communicatively coupled via thecommunications network; receiving, by the at least one processor, fromthe workstation in use by the requesting participant an acceptance ofthe responding participant's offer to guarantee that the item will bepurchased from the requesting participant at a price that will be eithergreater than or equal to the first price; in response to the requestingparticipant's acceptance of the responding participant's offer toguarantee that the item will be purchased from the requestingparticipant at a price that will be either greater than or equal to thefirst price, posting in an electronic marketplace, by the at least oneprocessor, an offer to sell the item at a second price that is higherthan the first price, wherein the offer to sell is posted in theelectronic marketplace; determining, by the at least one processor, thatthe posted offer is accepted in the electronic marketplace by athird-party at the second price; executing, by the at least oneprocessor, in response to determining that the posted offer is acceptedin the electronic marketplace by the third-party at the second price, atleast one transaction wherein the requesting participant sells the itemat a price higher than the first price and the third party purchases theitem at the second price; and providing, by the at least one processor,in response to determining that the posted offer is accepted in theelectronic marketplace by the third-party at the second price, a paymentto the responding participant.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theelectronic marketplace is one of a plurality of electronic marketplaces;and wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the at least oneprocessor, from the requesting participant a selection of the electronicmarketplace from among the plurality of electronic marketplaces; andposting, by the server, the offer in the electronic marketplace fromamong the plurality of electronic marketplaces based at least in part onthe selection received from the requesting participant.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the electronic marketplace includes a plurality ofoffers on the item, including the posted offer; wherein the plurality ofoffers, including the posted offer, are displayed to the requestingparticipant via the workstation in use by the requesting participant;and wherein the method further comprises the at least one processorcausing the posted offer to be displayed to the requesting participantdifferently from the other plurality of offers.
 4. A method comprising:receiving, by at least one processor, from a workstation in use by arequesting participant a request for quote for an offer on an item,wherein the at least one processor and the workstation arecommunicatively coupled via a communications network; receiving, by theat least one processor, from a workstation in use by a respondingparticipant an offer to guarantee that the item will be sold to therequesting participant at a price that will be either less than or equalto a specified first price, wherein the offer to guarantee is inresponse to the request for quote, and wherein the at least oneprocessor and the workstation in use by the responding participant arecommunicatively coupled via the communications network; receiving, bythe at least one processor, from the workstation in use by therequesting participant an acceptance of the responding participant'soffer to guarantee that the item will be sold to the requestingparticipant at a price that will be either less than or equal to thefirst price; posting in an electronic marketplace, by the at least oneprocessor, a bid to buy the item at a second price that is lower thanthe first price, wherein the bid to buy is posted in the electronicmarketplace on behalf of the requesting participant; determining, by theat least one processor, that the posted bid is accepted in theelectronic marketplace by a third-party at the second price; executing,by the at least one processor, in response to determining that theposted bid is accepted in the electronic marketplace by the third-partyat the second price, at least one transaction wherein the requestingparticipant buys the item at a price lower than the first price and thethird party sells the item at the second price; and providing, by the atleast one processor, in response to determining that the posted bid isaccepted in the electronic marketplace by the third-party at the secondprice, a payment to the responding participant.
 5. The method of claim4, wherein the electronic marketplace is one of a plurality ofelectronic marketplaces; and wherein the method further comprises:receiving, by the at least one processor, from the requestingparticipant a selection of the electronic marketplace from among theplurality of electronic marketplaces; and posting, by the at least oneprocessor, the bid in the electronic marketplace from among theplurality of electronic marketplaces based at least in part on theselection received from the requesting participant.
 6. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the electronic marketplace includes a plurality of bidson the item, including the posted bid; wherein the plurality of bids,including the posted bid, are displayed to the requesting participantvia the workstation in use by the requesting participant; and whereinthe method further comprises the at least one processor causing theposted bid to be displayed to the requesting participant differentlyfrom the other plurality of bids.
 7. An apparatus comprising: a memorydevice; and at least one processor electronically connected to thememory device, the memory device storing instructions that when executedby the at least one processor direct the at least one processor to:receive from a workstation in use by a requesting participant a requestfor quote for a bid on an item, wherein the apparatus is operable tocommunicate with the workstation via a communications network; receivefrom a workstation in use by a responding participant an offer toguarantee that the item will be purchased from the requestingparticipant at a price that will be either greater than or equal to aspecified first price, wherein the the offer to guarantee is in responseto the request for quote, and wherein the apparatus is further operableto communicate with the workstation in use by the responding participantvia the communications network; receive from the workstation in use bythe requesting participant an acceptance of the responding participant'soffer to guarantee that the item will be purchased from the requestingparticipant at a price that will be either greater than or equal to thefirst price; post in an electronic marketplace an offer to sell the itemat a second price that is higher than the first price, wherein the offerto sell is posted in the electronic marketplace on behalf of therequesting participant; and if the posted offer is accepted in theelectronic marketplace by a third-party at the second price within apredetermined time period: execute, in response to the posted offerbeing accepted in the electronic marketplace by the third-party at thesecond price, at least one transaction wherein the requestingparticipant sells the item at a price higher than the first price andthe third party purchases the item at the second price; and provide, inresponse to determining that the posted offer is accepted in theelectronic marketplace by the third-party at the second price, acommission to the responding participant; if the posted offer is notaccepted in the electronic marketplace by a third-party at the secondprice within a predetermined time period: determine that the postedoffer was not accepted in the electronic marketplace within thepredetermined time period; and execute, in response to determining thatthe posted offer was not accepted in the electronic marketplace withinthe predetermined time period, at least one transaction to trade theitem between the requesting participant and the responding participantat the first price.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein theinstructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, furtherdirect the at least one processor to: before the act of receiving anoffer to guarantee that the item will be purchased from the requestingparticipant at a price that will be either greater than or equal to thespecified first price, receive from the requesting participant a priceincrement specified by the requesting participant; and determine thesecond price at which the offer is posted in the electronic marketplaceby increasing the first price by the price increment.
 9. The apparatusof claim 7, wherein the instructions, that when executed by the at leastone processor, further direct the at least one processor to: before theact of receiving an offer to guarantee that the item will be sold to therequesting participant at a price that will be either less than or equalto the specified first price, determine a pre-configured priceincrement; and determine the second price at which the offer is postedin the electronic marketplace by increasing the first price by the priceincrement.
 10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the posted offer is tobe available to be traded in the electronic marketplace for apredetermined period of time; and wherein to determine that the postedoffer is not accepted in the electronic marketplace comprises todetermine that the posted offer has been available to be traded in theelectronic marketplace for the predetermined period of time and notaccepted by another party.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein theinstructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, furtherdirect the at least one processor to receive from the requestingparticipant an amount for the predetermined period of time for which theposted offer is to be available to be traded in the electronicmarketplace.
 12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the electronicmarketplace is one of a plurality of electronic marketplaces; andwherein the instructions, that when executed by the at least oneprocessor, further direct the at least one processor to: receive fromthe requesting participant a selection of the electronic marketplacefrom among the plurality of electronic marketplaces; and post the offerin the electronic marketplace from among the plurality of electronicmarketplaces based at least in part on the selection received from therequesting participant.
 13. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein theelectronic marketplace is operable to include a plurality of offers onthe item, including the posted offer; wherein the workstation in use bythe requesting participant is operable to display to the requestingparticipant the plurality of offers, including the posted offer; andwherein the instructions, that when executed by the at least oneprocessor, further direct the at least one processor to cause the postedoffer to be displayed to the requesting participant differently from theother plurality of offers.
 14. The apparatus of claim 7, in which theoffer to guarantee comprises: a guarantee that either (1) the respondingparticipant will buy the item from the requesting participant for thefirst price or (2) the item will be purchased from the requestingparticipant for a price higher than the first price.
 15. The apparatusof claim 7, wherein the offer to sell at the second price is posted inthe electronic marketplace on behalf of the responding participant. 16.The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising: responsive to determiningthat the posted offer is accepted in the electronic marketplace by thethird-party at the second price, providing, by the at least oneprocessor, a commission to the responding participant.
 17. The apparatusof claim 7, in which the offer to guarantee comprises an offer toguarantee that the item will be purchased from the requestingparticipant within a predetermined period of time at a price greaterthan or equal to a first price, and in which the posted offer isaccepted in the electronic marketplace by the third-party within thepredetermined period of time.
 18. The apparatus of claim 7, in which theoffer to guarantee comprises an offer to guarantee that the item will bepurchased from the requesting participant within a period of timedefined by a user, and in which the posted offer is accepted in theelectronic marketplace by the third-party within the predeterminedperiod of time.
 19. The apparatus of claim 7, in which the offer to sellat the second price is posted in the electronic marketplace on behalf ofthe requesting participant, and in which the at least one transactioncomprises a single transaction in which the requesting participant sellsthe item to the third party at the second price.
 20. The apparatus ofclaim 7, in which the offer to sell at the second price is posted in theelectronic marketplace on behalf of the responding participant, and inwhich the at least one transaction comprises (1) a sale of the item fromthe requesting participant to the responding participant at a pricehigher than the first price and (2) a sale of the item from theresponding participant to the third party at the second price.
 21. Anapparatus comprising: a memory device; and at least one processorelectronically connected to the memory device, the memory device storinginstructions that when executed by the at least one processor direct theat least one server processor to: receive from a workstation in use by arequesting participant a request for quote for an offer on an item,wherein the apparatus is operable to communicate with the workstationvia a communications network; receive from a workstation in use by aresponding participant an offer to guarantee that the item will be soldto the requesting participant at a price that will be either less thanor equal to a specified first price, wherein the offer to guarantee isin response to the request for quote, and wherein the apparatus isfurther operable to communicate with the workstation in use by theresponding participant via the communications network; receive from theworkstation in use by the requesting participant an acceptance of theresponding participant's offer to guarantee that the item will be soldto the requesting participant at a price that will be either less thanor equal to the first price; post in an electronic marketplace, inresponse to the requesting participant accepting the respondingparticipant's offer to guarantee that the item will be sold to therequesting participant at a price that will be either less than or equalto the first price, a bid to buy the item at a second price that islower than the first price, wherein the bid to buy is posted in theelectronic marketplace; if the posted bid is accepted in the electronicmarketplace by a third-party at the second price within a predeterminedtime period: execute, in response to determining that the posted bid isaccepted in the electronic marketplace by the third-party at the secondprice, at least one transaction wherein the requesting participant buysthe item at a price lower than the first price and the third party sellsthe item at the second price; provide, in response to determining thatthe posted bid is accepted in the electronic marketplace by thethird-party at the second price, a commission to the respondingparticipant; if the posted bid is not accepted in the electronicmarketplace at the second price within the predetermined period of time:determine that the posted bid is not accepted in the electronicmarketplace at the second price within the predetermined period of time;and execute, in response to determining that the posted bid is notaccepted in the electronic marketplace within the predetermined periodof time, at least one transaction wherein the requesting participantbuys the item at a price lower than the first price and the third partysells the item at the second price.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21,wherein the electronic marketplace is one of a plurality of electronicmarketplaces; and wherein the instructions, that when executed by the atleast one processor, further direct the at least one processor to:receive from the requesting participant a selection of the electronicmarketplace from among the plurality of electronic marketplaces; andpost the bid in the electronic marketplace from among the plurality ofelectronic marketplaces based at least in part on the selection receivedfrom the requesting participant.
 23. The apparatus of claim 21, whereinthe instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor,further direct the at least one processor to receive from the requestingparticipant an amount for the predetermined period of time for which theposted bid is to be available to be traded in the electronicmarketplace.
 24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the electronicmarketplace is operable to include a plurality of bids on the item,including the posted bid; wherein the workstation in use by therequesting participant is operable to display to the requestingparticipant the plurality of bids, including the posted bid; and whereinthe instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor,further direct the at least one processor to cause the posted bid to bedisplayed to the requesting participant differently from the otherplurality of bids.